La Cieca
James Jorden (who wrote under the names "La Cieca" and "Our Own JJ") was the founder and editor of parterre box. During his 20 year career as an opera critic he wrote for the New York Times, Opera, Gay City News, Opera Now, Musical America and the New York Post. He also raised his voice in punditry on National Public Radio. From time to time he directed opera, including three unsuccessful productions of Don Giovanni. He also contributed a regular column on opera for the New York Observer. James died in October 2023.
Starring Leontyne Price, Isola Jones, Giuseppe Giacomini, Leo Nucci, and Bonaldo Giaiotti, conducted by James Levine. Production by John Dexter. From March 24, 1984.
A Baroque Valentine’s with Opera Lafayette | Feb | DC & NYC
Celebrate love in all its guises with tender ballads, amorous duets, cheeky verses, and bawdy drinking songs plus food, cocktails and wine.
Lise Davidsen‘s role debut in Janacek’s opera with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Patrick Lange.
Starring Angel Blue, Golda Schultz, Latonia Moore, Denyce Graves, Frederick Ballentine, Eric Owens, Alfred Walker, and Donovan Singletary, conducted by David Robertson. Production by James Robinson. From February 1, 2020.
That Beczala/Radvanovsky online recital, viewed and reviewed, really caught the eye of the cher public in the month of January.
Update: The previously announced Nozze performance has been canceled. In its place the VSO will stream Der Rosenkavalier.
The 2014 SFO presentation of John Copley’s production stars Nicole Cabell as the courtesan Violetta Valéry and Stephen Costello as Alfredo Germont. The cast also includes Vladimir Stoyanov as Alfredo’s father, Giorgio Germont.
Born on this day in 1902 actress Tallulah Bankhead.
Starring Diana Damrau, Oksana Volkova, Piotr Beczala, Željko Lucic, and Štefan Kocán, conducted by Michele Mariotti. From February 16, 2013.
A filmed performance of “the last Roman opera,” the lavish first opera by Luigi Rossi.
Starring Anja Kampe, Mihoko Fujimura, Sergey Skorokhodov, David Portillo, Evgeny Nikitin, and Franz-Josef Selig, conducted by Valery Gergiev. From March 10, 2020.
Starring Lisette Oropesa, Angela Meade, Stephanie Blythe, Jennifer Johnson Cano, Paolo Fanale, Ambrogio Maestri, and Franco Vassallo, conducted by James Levine. From December 14, 2013.
Starring Marina Poplavskaya, Jonas Kaufmann, and René Pape, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. From December 10, 2011.
On this day in 1974 Carol Channing opened on Broadway in Lorelei, a revision of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, in which she had headlined a quarter of a century earlier.
Starring Diana Damrau, Joyce DiDonato, Susanne Resmark, Juan Diego Flórez, Stéphane Degout, and Michele Pertusi, conducted by Maurizio Benini. From April 9, 2011.
Starring Hibla Gerzmava, Malin Byström, Serena Malfi, Paul Appleby, Simon Keenlyside, Adam Plachetka, Matthew Rose and Kwangchul Youn, conducted by Fabio Luisi. From October 22, 2016.
Starring Deborah Voigt, Eva-Maria Westbroek, Stephanie Blythe, Jonas Kaufmann, Bryn Terfel, and Hans-Peter König, conducted by James Levine. From May 14, 2011.
Bard SummerScape in 2016.
Starring Lisette Oropesa, Michael Fabiano, Carlo Bosi, Artur Rucinski, Brett Polegato and Kwangchul Youn, conducted by Maurizio Benini. From October 26, 2019.
“High notes and high drama will be in abundance when this world-famous soprano-tenor pairing comes together for a thrilling performance broadcast live from Germany’s Historische Stadthalle Wuppertal.”
Happy 91st birthday soprano Teresa Zylis-Gara.
From the Met’s “greed is good” period, a Franco Zeffirelli production starring Hildegard Behrens, Plácido Domingo and Cornell MacNeil, conducted by Giuseppe Sinopoli. From March 27, 1985.
From the Vienna State Opera: Marco Armiliato conducts Plácido Domingo, Freddie De Tommaso, Riccardo Zanellato and Anna Pirozzi.
Starring Natalie Dessay, Matthew Polenzani, and Dmitri Hvorostovsky, conducted by Fabio Luisi. From April 14, 2012.
Starring Sondra Radvanovsky, Joyce DiDonato, Joseph Calleja, and Matthew Rose, conducted by Carlo Rizzi. From October 7, 2017.
Tell us: What was the best of 2025?
Parterre Box concludes the thrilling first year of Talk of the Town by inviting your lightning rod opinions on several more categories of operatic argumentation.
